Social Psychology Gilovich
deception research
research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of something that is done to them •Impossible to get informed consent •So exceptions are made for this kind of research and if there is a good reason to deceive participant it will generally be allowed by IRB's
a) Stereotypes:
schemas that we have for people of various kinds that can be applied to judgments about people and decisions about how to interact with them.
discrepancy between ideal and actual self
self causes feelings of depression, disappointment, shame and sadness.
Construal and the prisoner's dilemma
when called the game "wall street game", the majority played competitively, and when called "community game" most played cooperatively. Didn't matter if had been identified as a competitive or cooperative person
Statistical significance is primarily due to
•The size of the differences between groups in and experiment or the size of a relationship between variables in a correlational study •The number of cases the findings is based on → The bigger the difference or relationship and the larger the number of cases, the greater the statistical significance
gender and the self
-Across cultures, men generally have more independent, and women have more interdependent, views of self -Women likely to refer to relationships when describing self -Women more attuned to external social cues whereas as men more attuned to their internal responses
why differences between cultures
-Differences may be due to socialization -Cultural stereotypes, parental feedback, educational treatment -Evolution may contribute to gender differences -Independent views of self may advantage males in acts like physical competition and hunting -Interdependent views of self may advantage females in acts related to maintaining social bonds and care giving
family influence and sibling dynamic on personality development
-Diversification-Siblings may take on different roles in the family to minimize conflicts -Birth order may influence personality traits-Older siblings are often more responsible and supportive of the status quo (e.g., Leaders), younger siblings are often more rebellious and open to new experiences (e.g., creative artists).
sources of self knowledge
-Introspection -Self perception about behavior -Influence of others -Autobiographical memories -culture
social comparison theory
-The hypothesis that we evaluate ourselves through comparisons to others -Downward social comparisons may boost self-esteem by making us feel better about the self -Upward social comparisons may motivate self-improvement
three principles of social psychology
1.social situations have a very strong impact on behavior. 2.if a situation is perceived as real, it is likely to have real consequences. 3.people wish to justify their actions and preserve or increase their sense of positive self worth.
external variables may explain correlations
A correlation between two variables may actually be caused by a third variable For example - Need for achievement can predict both education and income but cannot predict IQ.
Better-than-average effect
Most Westerners tend to have a positive view of the self Tend to rate the self as better than average on most traits Weight abilities we excel at as more valuable
1) Social Psychology (chapter 1 intro begins)
the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts and behaviors of individuals in different social contexts such as dyads, groups and organizations
10) Theory of mind
the understanding that other people have beliefs and desires.
participant observations
to observe at close range. Social psychologists observe social situations in a semi formal way /taking notes and interviewing participants) but they typically design additional research to verify the impressions they get from participant observation.
basic research
Concerned with trying to gain knowledge in its own right. Aim is to gain greater understanding of a phenomenon
biological disposition in personality development
Five-factor model of personality Five traits that are basic building blocks of personality Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism Traits are highly heritable and are linked to specific biological processes
prevention focus
Focus on negative outcomes and attempt to avoid not living up to our ought self
trait self-esteem
Enduring level of regard we have for ourselves Fairly stable across time
situationism and the self
Aspects of the self may change depending on the situation
self-discrepancy theory, higgins
Behavior is motivated by cultural and personal moral standards Individuals want to resolve discrepancies of who they are with who they want to be or ought to be
Relational self-beliefs
Beliefs about our identities in specific relationships For instance, who you are as a son/daughter feels different than who you are as a boyfriend/girlfriend
collective self-beliefs
Beliefs about our identity as members of important social categories Examples could be identity based on citizenship, ethnicity, gender, profession, and so on
Social self-beliefs
Beliefs about the roles and duties we assume in different groups
heritable traits run in families
Big Five personality traits are highly heritable
where collectivism is more prevalent
Collectivism is more common in non-Western cultures East Asia (China, Japan, Korea), South Asia (India, Malaysia), Latin America, and Africa Believe important attributes linked to relationships with others and group membership Self viewed as overlapping with close others
applied research
Concerned with using current understanding of a phenomenon in order to solve a real-world problem
benefits of experiments
Conditions are controlled or manipulated by the researcher Behaviors are systematically measured Comparisons of how different manipulations affect behavior allow researchers to determine causal influences of behavior
correlation does not equal cuasation
Correlation determines that two things are related but not that one variable causes changes in the other, because of the lack of manipulation. Helpful in alerting us to various possibilities for causal hypotheses about the nature of the world but they don't tell us about the direction of causality
culture and human behavior
Despite many human universals, there is cultural variation in how universals are expressed. There are cultural differences in self-definition
Milgram Study results
Despite potential harm to another person, 62.5 percent of participants completed the experiment Originally it was predicted that less than 1 percent of people would follow instructions until the end Participants were of different ages and social classes Same effects were found for women and men Classic example of the power of the situation Participants did not intend to harm another person, yet behaved in accord with the situation
Fraternal twins are 50 percent genetically identical
Dizygotic: from two zygotes Fraternal twins are as genetically similar as any other two siblings (50 percent genetically identical on average), but share a more similar environment because they are born at same time
The Milgram Experiment
Experiment described as a "study of learning" Participants instructed to shock another participant for any wrong answers The other participant is a confederate who never receives any real shocks Shock level increased for each wrong answer Shock levels ranged from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger: severe shock) During the experiment, the confederate begins to scream in pain and demand that the experiment end Later, the confederate stops making any sounds, indicating he may be possibly injured or dead The experimenter, wearing a white lab coat, instructs the participant to continue with the experiment
promotion focus
Focus on positive outcomes and moving toward becoming our ideal self
olympic gold medalists comparing themselves experiment
H: people's emotional responses to events are influenced about their thoughts of what would have been. RM: videotaping olympic medalists and had people judge how happy they looked R: they found the bronze (3rd place winners) looked much happier in comparison to the silver, second place winner c:the silver is just thinking how they are not gold and the bronze is just happy to have gotten an award.
Experiment: The power of the situation and helping
Hypothesis: A major cause of offering to help another person is whether one is in a hurry Research method: participants were chosen who were expected to be helpful (seminary students). Primed to think about helping by being asked to prepare a talk on the good samaritan. Some participants were told they had to rush, other condition told they had plenty of time. Participants passed a victim in obvious need of help. Only 10% in hurry helped, 60% not in a hurry helped. Conclusion: the mundane fact of being in a hurry is such a powerful situational factor that is overrides people's good intentions. (example of channel factor)
Experiment about honor differences in the U.S.
Hypothesis: members of a culture of honor, u.s. southerners, will respond with more anger and aggression than northerners Research method: participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire and take it down a long narrow hallway When the participant passed a student he would yell *******. Results: Southerners responded with more facial and bodily expressions of anger when insulted than northerner's and their testosterone levels increased. Conclusion: Southerners are more biologically prepared for aggression.
self guides
Ideal self: the person we wish we could be Ought self: the person we feel should be
Genetic heritability can be determined from twin studies
Identical twin are 100 percent genetically identical Monozygotic: from one zygote Dizygotic: from two zygotes Therefore, the influence of genetic factors on personality traits can be estimated by examining the differences between identical and fraternal twins
In World War II African-American soldiers stationed in Southern United States exhibited higher morale than those stationed in Northern states.
In the south--Compared with local non-enlisted African-Americans, whose situation was worse than that of the recruits. In the North-->Compared with local non-enlisted African-Americans, whose situation was better than that of the recruits.
experimental methods
Independent variable=The variable that is manipulated by the researcher The independent variable is hypothesized to cause changes in the dependent variables Dependent variable=The variable that is measured Often a change in behavior, feelings, or evaluation Control condition=A condition identical to the experimental condition but absent from the independent variable
Where individualism is more prevalent
Individualism is more common in Western cultures Europe, United States, Canada, and Australia Believe important attributes linked to the self Value individual distinction
observational research
Involves observing participants in social situations. Attempts to systematically observe behaviors. Behaviors may be recorded and categorized. May involve additional measures like interviews and questionnaires
influence of others
Knowledge about the self helps organize how we behave in different situations and with different people
self-esteem
Overall positive or negative evaluation we have of ourselves
Hindsight Bias Experiment
Participants were asked to estimate the probability of various possible outcome of on Nixon's trip to China (1972). 2 to 6 weeks after the visit same subjects asked to recall the probabilities of the original predictions. Results showed that participants remembered having given higher probabilities than they actually had to occurred events.
Automatic vs. Controlled Processing
People's construals of situations are often largely automatic and unconscious
random assignment
Random assignment to condition ensures that individual differences are evenly distributed across conditions. Can infer that differences between experimental and control groups are due to the experimental manipulation and not to differences between the types of people that were in each condition
correlational research
Research that examines the relationship between variables without assigning participants to different situations or conditions The Experimenter measure the dependent variables (E.g., Level of Sport activity, degree of smoking). Enable us to point out on specific relationships but we cannot make inferences about causes of behavior
experimental research
Research that involves assigning participants to different situations or conditions. Participants should be randomly assigned to different conditions Experiments allow for causal inferences about how different conditions influence behavior
self-selection
Researchers have no control over characteristics, choices, and behaviors of the participants The participants, not the researchers, determine the levels of the variable being studied (Smokers vs. Non smokers). Problem that arises when the participant, rather than the investigator, selects his/her level on each variable, bringing with this value unknown other properties that make causal interpretation of a relationship difficult. Problem in correlational research
independent view of self
Self seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by individual traits and preferences
interdependent view of self
Self seen as connected to others, defined by social duties and shared traits and preferences
social context
Sense of self may shift dramatically depending on whom we are interacting with For instance, may feel different about the self when interacting with authority figures than when interacting with subordinates
What social psychology teaches us
Social psychology can explain many behaviors that may seem surprising Social psychology can reveal many ways in which our perceptions are often inaccurate or mistaken (our blind spots) Social psychology shows that much of our behavior is influenced by factors of which we are often unaware (e.g., the power of situation).
Hindsight Bias (chap 2 begins the methods of social psychology)
Tendency to be overconfident about one's ability to have predicted a given outcome after already knowing the outcome. The feeling that "I knew it all the time." Moreover, people overestimate what they themselves and others actually did know in foresight at particular situation.
Self-image bias
Tendency to judge other people's personalities according to their similarity or dissimilarity to our own personality. For instance, If you view yourself as intelligent you may judge others strongly by how intelligent you perceive them to be
Chapter 3
The Social Self
empirical results
The main tool in Social Psychology is empirical research For instance, research on romantic attraction indicates successful couples are more typically more similar than different (that is, birds of a feather do flock together) The feeling that you "already knew" the results of a social psychology experiment research are unjustified
the self concept
The sum of our beliefs about ourselves.
self-reference effect
The tendency to elaborate on and recall information that is integrated into our self -knowledge For instance, better memory for a list of adjectives if considering whether the adjectives apply to the self
Ratio Bias
The tendency to estimate an event as more likely when its probability is presented as a ratio between large numbers, and less likely when its probability is presented as a ratio between small numbers
external validity in experiments
There are weaknesses in experimental studies as well- sometimes experiments are a bit sterile and so removed from everyday life that it can be hard to know how to interpret them (poor in external validity). When the purpose of the research is to generalize the results of an experiment directly to the outside world external validity is crucial. When the purpose of the experiment is to clarify a general idea/theory external validity is unimportant.
Independent (individualistic) cultures
Think of self as distinct social entity Ties to others are voluntary View personal attributes as constant
Interdependent (collectivistic) cultures
Think of self as part of a collective Interconnected to others, with little emphasis on individual freedom or choices
distinctiveness hypothesis
We identify what make us unique in each particular context, and we highlight that in our self definition For instance, age may seem more important to self-definition if you are surrounded by much older people -American children define themselves according to how they are unique and different from their classmates
statistical significance
a measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance When we have an empirical result such as the finding that there is a correlation between 2 variables or the finding that some independent variable affects a different variable in an experiment we can test the statistical significance. A finding has statistical significance if the probability of obtaining the finding by chance is less than some quantity (usually 1 in 20 or .05)
7) Prisoner's dilemma
a situation involving payoffs to two people in which trust and cooperation lead to higher joint payoffs than mistrust and defection. The game gets its name from the dilemma that would confront two criminals who were involved in a crime together and are being held and questioned separately. Each must decide whether to "cooperate" and stick with a prearranged alibi or "defect" and confess to the crime in the hope of lenient treatment.
longitudinal study
a study conducted over a long period of time, which is periodically assessed regarding a particular behavior.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)- ethical concerns
a university committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of research. •Research conducted in universities HAS TO go through the IRB •If some aspect of the procedure is deemed overly harmful, that procedure MUST be changed before the study can be approved
9) Natural Selection:
an evolutionary process that molds animals and plants such that traits that enhance the probability of survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations.
external validity
an experimental setup that closely resembles real-life situations so that results can safely be generalized to such situations •I.e Milgram experiment- most of us will probably never be put in a similar situation •Poor external validity isn't always fatal, sometimes experimenters strip down situations to its bare essentials on purpose as a way to make a theoretical point, that would be hard to make with real-world materials.
Automatic and unconscious processing
based on emotional factors, faster
6) Gestalt Psychology
based on the German word "Gestalt" meaning "form" or "figure". This approach stresses the fact that objects are perceived not by means of some automatic registering device but by active, usually unconscious, interpretation of what the object represents as a whole.
5) Fundamental Attribution Error
the failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behaviour, together with the tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions or traits on behaviour.
discrepancy between actual and ought self
causes feelings of anxiety.
mentioning words about elderly
causes people to walk more slowly without them realizing it
2) Channel Factors
certain situational circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface but that can have great consequences for behavior, either facilitating or blocking it; or guiding behavior in a particular direction. Important to take into account because individual differences weren't good predicting factors in many experiments
Conscious and systematic processing
controlled by careful thought, much slower
14) Interdependent (Collectivistic) Cultures
cultures in which people tend to define themselves as part of a collective, inextricably tied to others in their group and having relatively little individual freedom or personal control over their lives but not necessarily wanting or needing these things.
13) Independent (Individualistic) Cultures:
cultures in which people tend to think of themselves as distinct, social entities, tied to each other by voluntary bonds of affection and organizational memberships, but essentially separate from other people and having attributes that exist in the absence of any connection to others.
8) Schemas:
generalized knowledge about the physical and social world and how to behave in particular situations and with different kinds of people.
skill acquisition
how we can carry out procedures without our awareness, automatic processing
mental processing
how we can form beliefs without even being aware, freud, that's why social psychologists can't just ask people why they did things need to observe them to uncover the real meaning
internal validity
in experimental research, confidence that its the manipulation variable ONLY that could have produced the results. •The experimental situation is held constant in all other respects, and participants in the various experimental conditions don't differ on average in any respect before they come to the laboratory •Requires that the experimental setup seem realistic and plausible to participants.
debriefing
in preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants straightforwardly if they understood the instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so forth. In later versions, debriefings are used to educate participants about questions being studied. •Pilot studies (preliminary) often provide useful information about the experiment design •Debriefing participants is also routine for the purpose of education. -help ensure they pass the various criteria of internal validity
3) Dispositions
internal factors, such as beliefs, values, personality traits, or abilities that guide a person's behaviour.
4) Construal
interpretation and inference about the stimuli or situations we confront.
identical twins
monozygotic twins resembles each other more in their extraversion and neuroticism than do dizygotic twins, who only share half their genes
surveys
most common type of study in social psychology uses this method, either by interviewing or asking to fill out a questionnaire. •important to be RANDOM SAMPLE • A haphazard sample (i.e getting people to be part of the survey by asking people as they are coming in/out from the library) runs the risk of being biased in some way- including too many of one kind of person and too few of another kind •The number of people needed to get a reasonably accurate result on some question is essentially independent of the size of the population in question
natural experiments
naturally occurring events or phenomena having somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as much rigor as in experiments where the investigator manipulates the condition
field experiment
one of the best ways to ensure external validity, an experiment set up in the real world (that resembles a laboratory experiment), usually with participants who aren't aware that they are participating in a study of any kind.
informed consent
participants willingness to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all relevant aspects about the procedure/study. •Practiced followed for most psychological research as well
Brickman studies life satisfaction in three groups
people who won the lottery, paraplegics, people who didnt experience extreme life events. The lottery winners in the short term had extreme happiness and paraplegics had extreme despair, but in long term there was no large difference between the groups in life satisfaction
archival research
refers to the method of research that looks for evidence tat is found in archives of various kinds.
actual self
the person we believe ourselves to be
12) Naturalistic Fallacy
the claim that the way things are is the way they should be.
reliability
the degree to which the particular way we measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results. •Typically measured by correlations between 0 and 1 Measurement validity- the correlation between some measure and some outcome that the measure is supposed to predict -help ensure they pass the various criteria of internal validity
11) Parental Investment
the evolutionary principal that costs and benefits are associated with reproduction and the nurturing of offspring. Because these costs and benefits are different for males and females, one sex will normally value and invest more in each child than will the other sex.
